Capstan



Dec. 2, 1941 I ROGERS 2,264,555

. CAPSTAN" Filed March 14, 1941 2 .Fa WIN J EOGEfQS ATTORNEY.

Patented Dec. 2, 1941 UNETED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CAPSTAN Edwin J. Rogers, Oakland, Calif.

Application March 14, 1941, Serial No. 383,287

5 Claims.

This invention relates to capstans as used principally on shipboard forwinding ropes therearound, and the invention has for its principalobject an improvement in such capstans which obviates the presentnecessity of holding the free end of the rope while the main run of therope is being wound upon the drum of the capstan by revolving the sameeither by hand or by power.

Other objects of the invention are simplicity of construction wherebythe principal object is carried out. The various features and advantagesof the invention will be set out in detail in the following descriptionand accompanying drawing.

In the drawing- Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a capstan embodying myimprovements and with a portion broken away to show the ratchets,

Fig. 2 is a vertical central section of the capstan showing the internalconstruction.

Fig. 3 is an upper end view or plan of the upper end of the capstanshowing the form of the upper flange and the four-armed rope cleat whichrevolves with the capstan when the latter is turned.

Before describing the invention in detail it may be said that theordinary capstan has a vertically positioned tapered drum with a smallerdiameter at the outer end and which. outer end is bounded by the upperflange. In using the capstan to wind a rope, the rope is first pulledtaut by hand and wound around the capstan drum with several turns and,while then holding the loose end of the rope or having another personhold it, the capstan is revolved to put as great a tension on thework-rope as is desired or wind it up to the desired extent. Afterwinding up the rope to the required degree around the capstan, the looseend is fastened to a rope cleat on the deck or other fixed portion ofthe ship.

When desiring to slack off on the rope the party holding the lose end ofcourse slacks off on it and the turns around the capstan will graduallyunwind, but will stop at any time when the loose end is again pulled.

Applicants invention provides means on the capstan itself forfrictionally holding the loose end of the rope so that one man mayconveniently handle the entire job; that is, he may pull volved. By thismeans the rope is held taut and may be revolved by the hand ratchet inthe usual way to wind up as much as desired. The ratchet of course willhold the capstan in any position with the rope wound upon it, and at anytime the same operator.,may release the rope from the cleat to thedegree desired to let the rope play out again. 7

This simpleconstruction requires no manipulation other than the normalmanipulation required and there are no loose parts on the capstan exceptthose already in use on it.. p

In the drawing, l denotes a solid foundation such as the, deck of theship. 2 denotes the base or fixed portion of' the capstan which is, inthe present showing, a round disk bolted through its margin to thefoundation or deck I by means of countersunk bolts 3. This basemember 2is formed integral with or is permanently affixed to a central verticalshaft 4 centeredupon, and revolvable around which is the capstan drum 5.This capstan drum is of the usual tapered form in being relatively largeat the bottom and tapered smaller to its upper end, where the smallestdiameter 6 terminates in an outwardly directed upper flange 1 as iscommon in most capstans. Internally the drum 5 is hollow and formed witha downwardly extending elongated hub 8 which embraces the vertical shaft4. At the base of the capstan is provided means for revolving it byhand, and ratchet means for holding it in any position afterturning.This is common incapstan construction, though the details of the ratchetmay be novel in the present showing. The base member 2 is formed with astep in its marginal edge. Such step is designated 9 in the drawing andrevolvably mounted in this step is a looseratchet ring ID. The ring hasan outwardly projecting lug H at one point and over which lug is fitteda detachable handle l2 normally held by a pin or set screw l3 so that itwill not slip off the lug H. The use of such a pin or set screw is,however, optional as the handle may be held in place by pushing ittoward the ratchet ring in use. This ratchet ring'carries a plurality ofvertically slidabl'e ratchet pins 14 which move freely up and down inholes I5 drilled in the upper side of the ratchet ring, and the pins arenormally urged upward by springs [6.

These pins in moving upward engage in any of a series of ratchetopenings l'l formed in the outer marginal underside of the drum 5 asbest indicated in the broken away portion of Fig. 1. The ratchetopenings or notches as they may be called are slanted at one side sothat the drum may be revolved one way only and will lock against reversedirection as indicated by the drawing. By pulling the ratchet arm I2toward the observer in Fig. 1 the drum will be revolved clockwise by theaction of the ratchet pins [4 engaging the recesses I! of the drum.However, the ratchet ring will be free to return again for a newposition of engagement providing the drum 5 is held in the position towhich it was turned. To so hold the drum against reverse action a secondrow of ratchet openings or notches I8 is formed in the upper innerstepped margin 19 of the drum and into which notches other ratchet pins20'(formed like the ratchet pins l4) are slidably mounted in holes 2|bored in the upper margin of the base member 2 and urged upwardly bysprings 22.

A particular feature of novelty of applicant's construction is theprovision of rope notches 23 cut through the flange I at the upper endof the drum. In the showing there are four of these notches as best seenin Fig. 3 and through any of which the free end of the rope may bepassed upward and then engaged around the tapered base of rope cleat 24which is rigidly secured to the upper end of the drum 5 either byfastening thereto or by integrally casting thereto as shown in thedrawing. This rope cleat 24 is formed with four prongs instead of theusual two used on most rope cleats, set at right angles to one another,and each of which tapers down underneath as shown at 25 to a ropecompressing crevice adapted to keep the rope from slipping when woundaround it in the manner of winding any rope around a cleat.

This four-armed cleat has a countersunk open- 4 ing 26 in its upper endand which countersunk opening continues as a bore downwardly through thehub 8, of the drum to act as a bearing around the vertical shaft 4.Within this countersunk portion of the cleat is a large countersunkscrew 2'! shouldered as at 28 to fit tightly against the upper end ofthe shaft 4 and hold the drum operatively against its base yet permit itto freely revolve. The thread of the screw being right hand, anyfriction upon the screw in revolving the drum under working pressurewill of course tend to keep it tight.

In Fig. 1 of the drawing an operating rope is shown in position anddesignated 29. The free end of the rope is designated 29' and is shownpassing up through one of the slots 23 in the upper flang I and woundaround the cleat with a partial turn, and passed over the top of thecleat for an additional winding about the same as may be desired.

From the above description the operation will be readily understood andthe merits and advantages of the device, especially when incorporated insmall capstans as used on yachts which must be operated by one person,will be appreciated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A capstan comprising a base plate adapted for securing to a boat, ashaft rigidly secured to and projecting from said base plate, a ropedrumrevolvably mounted on said shaft and having a projecting flange at itsouter end, and a rope cleat rigidly secured to and extendingtransversely of th outer end of said drum arranged for frictionallysecuring the free end of a rope extended from said drum.

2. A capstan comprising a base plate adapted for securing to a boat, ashaft rigidly secured to and projecting from said base plate, a ropedrumrevolva-bly mounted on said shaft and having a projecting flange at'itsouter end, an open notch in the edge of said flange through which a ropemay readily pass from the drum and a rope cleat rigidly secured to andextending transversely of the outer end of said drum arranged forfrictionally securing the free end of a rope extended from said drumafter passing through said notch.

3. In a capstan having a base plate adapted for securing to a boat, arope drum rotatably mounted on said base plate and hand-operated ratchetmeans for turning the drum, the improvement which comprises providing arope wedging rope cleat secured to the outer end of said drum and havingat least two arms extending transversely of the drum.

4. In a capstan having a base plate adapted for securing to a boat, arope drum rotatably mounted on said base plate and a projecting flangeat the outer end of the drum and handoperated ratchet means for turningthe drum, the improvement which comprises providing a rope wedging ropecleat secured to the outer end of said drum and having at least two armsextending transversely of the drum and a plurality of notches openthrough the edge of said flange to freely pass a rope from said drum tosaid cleat.

5. In a capstan having a base plate adapted for securing to a boat, arope drum rotatably mounted on said base plate and hand-operated ratchetmeans for turning the drum, the im-- provement which comprises providinga rope wedging cleat secured to the outer end of said drum and havingfour rope wedging arms extending transversely of the drum and opennotches through the edge of said flange, one between each pair of cleatarms to freely pass a rope from the drum to said cleat.

EDWIN J. ROGERS.

